Trainer Problems

Monday again. It’s the start of my work week and I can hardly wait for the weekend already. It’s been more than a year now since I got promoted to the second level of my training career and I just realized how amazing yet hard my job has been to me. It’s rewarding, sure, but there are days when it just takes its toll on you. Even the mere thought of you becoming responsible for the future of these folks you’re assigned to can be pressuring all on its own. What more the other stressful things you’ll face daily, right?

Be it a high school/college professor, an English trainer, or a program facilitator, we all share the same dilemmas when it comes to handling a class: From seeing confused faces even after asking “Questions?” to students asking for financial help when you’re broke yourself. So I’ve come up with a gif-filled list of some problems that we face almost every day in our line of business:

1. Handling difficult people can be a pain in the neck.

There’s always one in every crowd: A know-it-all, a drama king/queen, or just a straight up elitist. It’s tough to avoid involving your emotions when calling them out on their shenanigans. For instance, I had to stop myself mid-sentence just to make sure I wouldn’t get written up for things that would come out of my mouth. Yep! In the end, we might still be held at fault. I can’t help but feel sorry for my high school teachers now. This is karma at its finest.

2. Your hours of working may have to be doubled.

To make it clear, we’re not paid for those extra hours. And even if we try very hard not to extend, we will end up having to. Imagine all those ad hoc tasks you have to do, emails in dire need to be read and sent, and follow-ups you have to make. You can’t do all those within your 8-hour shift ESPECIALLY if your class lasts for 8 hours. And if you try to procrastinate and postpone them, you’re just gonna make your life miserable for the next 24 hours. Worse if you have a The Devil Wears Prada kind of boss. Needless to say, this will soon be the death of your social life.

3. If your students miss a day, you can’t trust them enough to self-study the topics missed
—so much so that you hold a remedial class instead. You hate them but you can’t afford to let them fail. Their failures are your failures too, unfortunately.

By the way kids, when your professor asks you “Is that clear?”, please answer with honesty. We don’t ask that just for the heck of it, you know. I feel that it’s necessary to bring that up now because the people who attend my ‘remedial’ classes are not just the ones who were absent in the previous days.

4. Sometimes you have to play the “Bad Cop” to have order.

It’s never easy to be tough on your babies just so the house rules are followed. I had people cry because of me, and I think I was *almost* asked to see the HR because of how mean I got. All for the love of learning, I guess!

5. But you’re sort of considered a life coach from time to time.

There were plenty of moments in my career when I screamed “Uh-uh. I did NOT sign up for this!” in my head but yes, my trainees would often come to me for advice. For those who don’t know me well, I’m not a people person. I mostly hate social interactions, unless we’re very close. So for this to happen to me countless of times was hard work. You could say I got used to it, and it brought me closer to my students which I am forever grateful for. I just feel bad every time somebody cries because they would see how awkward I am with patting that person on the back.

6. At the end of the day, you’ll want everyone to succeed so much that it worries you.

OMG my walls. All of a sudden, you start caring for them like a stage mother. On your last day with them you can’t help but be proud of all they’ve achieved and the fact that you helped them get to where they are now. Thinking about it, maybe this is what has kept me going. All those 5 other things were maybe worth it. MAYBE.

And that’s about it for now! Those are just the main ones I can think of at the moment but if you have more, type away on the comment box below. 🙃